Method and system for organizing events

Abstract

A method and system for scheduling an event are provided. In some embodiments, information regarding the available sessions and facilities is compiled, ranker selection information based on preview sessions is collected, session utility rankings are determined, an event schedule is generated by a computer based at least on session utility rankings and subsequent facility rankings and the event schedule is electronically sent to attendees and other interested parties. In some embodiments, the event schedule can be revised as a result of new or modified session, facility, ranker information and/or attendee information. This general method and system can be applied to problems in various industries.

I claim: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method of generating and revising an event schedule during the event which efficiently uses the facilities available at the event, the method comprising:
 a. generating an organizer user interface that allows the organizer to select, add, modify, remove, and amend previously inputted session and facility information via an input device; 
 b. inputting of session and facility information for at least two sessions and at least two facilities into a database by at least one organizer using the organizer user interface; 
 c. generating, by an attendee software application via an electronic device, an attendee user interface including a display option allowing at least two rankers to select, add, remove, or modify ranker preferences, wherein the user interface includes an interactive preference control that allows the one or more rankers to indicate the desired ranking preference through interactions with the interactive preference control; 
 d. providing remote access to the at least two rankers via a network interface so that the at least two rankers can provide ranking preferences to the database in real time through direct interactions with the attendee user interface based on at least one preview session; 
 e. submitting of ranking preferences for the at least two sessions by the at least two rankers, wherein the submitting of ranking preferences occurs as a result of the at least two rankers interacting with the interactive preference controls on the attendee user interface via an attendee network interface during the event time frame; 
 f. receiving the ranking preferences entered by the at least two rankers via the attendee software application in real time; 
 g. aggregating the ranking preferences from each ranker; 
 h. converting the aggregated ranking preferences into an overall ranking of the at least one preview session through a computational process that weighs the collective inputs from the interactive attendee user interface; 
 i. determining a respective utility ranking for the at least two sessions wherein the utility ranking is based at least in part on the overall ranking of the at least one preview session; 
 j. applying a buffer constant to modify the at least two sessions available to be selected to schedule; 
 k. selecting a session of the at least two sessions available to be selected having the highest respective utility ranking for scheduling; 
 l. tentatively selecting a facility of the at least two facilities for linking to the selected session based on a respective requirements ranking; 
 m. linking the selected session to the tentatively selected facility using a best fit method, wherein the best fit method is a best to best method or a best to the best of the worst of best method; 
 n. scheduling the linked selected session and the tentatively selected facility into an available event time slot; 
 o. repeating until all sessions of the at least two sessions are linked to a respective facility of the at least two facilities and scheduled into a respective event time slot to generate the event schedule which uses the at least two facilities in an efficient manner based on at least the utility ranking and in adherence with the buffer constant; 
 p. electronically sending the generated event schedule to the at least one organizer; 
 q. approving of the event schedule by the at least one organizer using the organizer user interface through interaction with the organizer user interface; 
 r. electronically sending the approved event schedule to at least one attendee via the attendee software application in real time for display on the attendee user interface; 
 s. inputting of additions, modifications and/or changes to one or more of the at least two sessions, the facility information, the buffer constant, the utility ranking and the overall ranking information by the at least one organizer through interaction with the organizer user interface or by at least one ranker through interaction with the attendee user interface during the event time frame; 
 t. revising the approved event schedule in real time based on additions, modifications, or changes to one or more of the at least two sessions, the facility information, the utility ranking and the overall ranking information received through the organizer user interface or the attendee user interface, wherein the revised event schedule continues to use the at least two facilities in an efficient manner based on at least the utility ranking and in adherence with the buffer constant; and 
 u. sending the revised event schedule to the at least one attendee via the attendee software application electronically in real time during the event time frame for display on the attendee user interface, which updates to show the revised schedule, 
 wherein the method is implemented by a processor. 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1  further comprising in step n determining if there are any unscheduled concurrent time slots and if so selecting a concurrent session for scheduling and repeating steps l-n until there are no unscheduled concurrent time slots. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein a subset of sessions having the lowest rankings by those forecasted to attend the scheduled concurrent session(s) is identified and wherein the selected concurrent session is the session in this subset that has the highest utility ranking. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein the selected session in step k is the session having the highest utility ranking remaining. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein the utility ranking is also based on at least one modification factor applied to the ranking preferences. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5  wherein the modification factor includes at least a prerequisite modification. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  wherein the tentatively selected facility is the highest ranking facility remaining. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 7  wherein the highest ranking facility remaining is determined based on session requirements rankings, facility rankings, or both. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1  further comprising resolving any conflicts prior to linking the selected session with the tentatively selected facility and the available event time slot. 
     
     
       10. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 in step k forecasting the attendance of the selected session; and 
 in step n determining if there is a forecasted over attendance of the selected session, determining if there are any unscheduled concurrent time slots and selecting a concurrent session for scheduling wherein if the previously selected session has a forecasted over attendance the concurrent session is selected which has an estimated pull away number similar to the forecasted over attendance and repeating steps l-n until there are no unscheduled concurrent time slots. 
 
     
     
       11. A system, comprising:
 at least one processor configured to implement the following steps: 
 a. generating an organizer user interface that allows the organizer to select, add, modify, remove, and amend previously inputted session and facility information via an input device; 
 b. inputting of session and facility information for at least two sessions and at least two facilities into a database by at least one organizer using the organizer user interface; 
 c. generating an attendee user interface including a display option allowing at least two rankers to select, add, remove, or modify ranker preferences, wherein the user interface includes an interactive preference control that allows the one or more rankers to indicate the desired ranking preference through interactions with the interactive preference control; 
 d. providing remote access to the at least two rankers via a network interface so that the at least two rankers can provide ranking preferences to the database in real time through direct interactions with the attendee user interface based on at least one preview session; 
 e. submitting of ranking preferences for the at least two sessions by the at least two rankers, wherein the submitting of ranking preferences occurs as a result of the at least two rankers interacting with the interactive preference controls on the attendee user interface via an attendee network interface during the event time frame; 
 f. receiving the ranking preferences entered by the at least two rankers via the attendee software application in real time; 
 g. aggregating the ranking preferences from each ranker; 
 h. converting the aggregated ranking preferences into an overall ranking of the at least one preview session through a computational process that weighs the collective inputs from the interactive attendee user interface; 
 i. determining a respective utility ranking for the at least two sessions wherein the utility ranking is based at least in part on the overall ranking of the at least one preview session; 
 j. applying a buffer constant to modify the at least two sessions available to be selected to schedule; 
 k. selecting a session of the at least two sessions available to be selected having the highest respective utility ranking for scheduling; 
 l. tentatively selecting a facility of the at least two facilities for linking to the selected session based on a respective requirements ranking; 
 m. linking the selected session to the tentatively selected facility using a best fit method, wherein the best fit method is a best to best method or a best to the best of the worst of best method; 
 n. scheduling the linked selected session and the tentatively selected facility into an available event time slot; 
 o. repeating steps k-n until all sessions of the at least two sessions are linked to a respective facility of the at least two facilities and scheduled into a respective event time slot to generate the event schedule which uses the at least two facilities in an efficient manner based on at least the utility ranking and in adherence with the buffer constant; 
 p. electronically sending the generated event schedule to the at least one organizer; 
 q. approving of the event schedule by the at least one organizer using the organizer user interface through interaction with the user interface; 
 r. electronically sending the approved event schedule to at least one attendee via the attendee software application in real time for display on the attendee user interface; 
 s. inputting of additions, modifications and/or changes to one or more of the at least two sessions, the facility information, the buffer constant, the utility ranking and the overall ranking information by the at least one organizer through interaction with the organizer user interface or by at least one ranker through interaction with the attendee user interface during the event time frame; 
 t. revising the approved event schedule in real time based on additions, modifications, or changes to one or more of the at least two sessions, the facility information, the utility ranking and the overall ranking information received through the organizer user interface or the attendee user interface wherein the revised event schedule continues to use the at least two facilities in an efficient manner based on at least the utility ranking and in adherence with the buffer constant; and 
 u. sending the revised event schedule to the at least one attendee via the attendee software application electronically in real time during the event time frame for display on the attendee user interface, which updates to show the revised schedule. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the steps further comprise:
 in step n determining if there are any unscheduled concurrent time slots and if so selecting a concurrent session for scheduling and repeating steps l-n until there are no unscheduled concurrent time slots. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein a subset of sessions having the lowest rankings by those forecasted to attend the scheduled concurrent session(s) is identified and wherein the selected concurrent session is the session in this subset that has the highest utility ranking. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 11  wherein the selected session in step k is the session having the highest utility ranking remaining. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 11  wherein the utility ranking is also based on at least one modification factor applied to the ranking preferences. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 15  wherein the modification factor includes at least a prerequisite modification. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11  wherein the tentatively selected facility is the highest ranking facility remaining. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17  wherein the highest ranking facility remaining is determined based on session requirements rankings, facility rankings, or both. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11  wherein the processor is further configured to perform a step of resolving any conflicts prior to linking the selected session with the tentatively selected facility and the available event time slot.